On the Web: Measuring Biodiversity across North America

Once uttered only in the halls of academe, Biodiversity has made its way to the elementary, middle, and secondary school classroom. The word evokes ideas of total number of unique things, such as genes, genera, and species, and their abundances. As concepts go, Biodiversity is big, which makes measuring it in the field and in the laboratory quite a challenge.

We have recently revised the map on the website using the safest, robust technology. We are in the process of revising our lesson plan for biodiversity so that it is compatible with the map.

In the meantime, you might have some ideas of your own about how students can use the map to compare the species of mammals that are found in one locality or region versus another and think about why these differences might occur.